Electric signal system.



PATENTED MAR- 19, 1907.

B CHOUTEAU, JR ELEGTRIC- SIGNAL SYSTEM.

4 sums-sum 1.

APPLICATION FILED 0013.24, 1906.

INVENTOH WITNESSES ATTORNEYS No. 847,905. PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907.

E. GHOUTBAU, JL

ELECTRIC SIGNAL SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED 00'l.24, 1908.

I v N VE N TOR Eugenio fi'o'aieau A TTORNE YS r 0 9 1 Ga 1 mm A M D E T N E T A M P. E M E To! UL A N m Um 3 H Gm IR ET 0 P L T APPLIOATION FILED 001 24, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS j No. 847,905. PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907.

GHOUTEAU, JR. ELECTRIC SIGNAL SYSTEM...

APPLICATION FILED 00124. 1906.

' I i y 4 sums-sun? 4.

A TTOHNE Y S I Be it hown that 1;

Jr., a citizen of Valparaiso, Chile,--and a resi dent of the city of, St. Missouri, have invented I Electric Signal System,

'' isa full, clear, I

- y invention relates to electric railway-- signals, \my more produce a system tent automatic trolled at will My invention further'relates to the producof variousimprovements in construction hereinafter pointedout and claimed. 4 manneror Referenceis to be had to theaccompany- ,26 and 26 ing-drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference.

} UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

EUGENIO; cHoUTE u'Ja, or ,sr. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

To allfwhorn, it concern.-

indicate corresponding parts in all the Figure 1 is .comotives ap roac eac labe cghllltion being such that engine 12 may automaticall upon engine 11, the track convenience,in section. Fisomewhat similar switch in such new sounds an a 3 is a section through a resistance-coil, a

same track,

number of which coils are employed at intervals along'the, track for the ducing a sensitiveness ofthe tween locomotives but a little 4 is afrontelevationof the. hand-switch used upon each locomotive.

tion through 5 5 of Fi arrow.

conductor 26 horizontal section through the rail s ownin. Fig. 6, on the line 7 7 in more completely the arran ement of a part of the trolley mechanism. plan, view showing twolocomotives a proacheach other and in condition rel Fig. 9 is a vertical section 'showingihowthe eonductor 26 is mountedupon the rail-web and I the mechanism shown-in Fig 9, part] broken away,so as to show how thecon I held comparatively rigid in position.

' The locomotives 11 and signaling.

tially alike in IS providedwith ahigh-resistancs hell ;13 and 4-looking inthe d ig. 6 is an enlarged section through one ofthe service rails and shows the part of 'the" trolley mechanism for energiaing the EILEOTRIQ QSIGNAL eve-rem,

a Specification of Letters Patent.

EUGENIVO. CHoU'rnAU,;

Louis, and State of a new and Improved I of which the followand exact description.

particular object being a which is to a certain exand to a certain extent is con be divided es.. a diagram re resenting two lo-.;. .other upon the;-

sound an alarm eing' shown, for .2 1s a diagram to Fig. 1, utshowingthe ositionthat engine- N o. 1'1- arm uponcengineNo. -12:

conductors "20 211. E dependin purpose of prosystem as bedistance apart.

' Fig. 51's a secthe hand-switch upon the line ection ofthe' in position used insignaling. 7 is a tubes 31,

said e; and shows tor 26,- as' wil ig. 8 is 'a-reduced Each ativel to 33 with Fig. 10 is an elevation of' uctoris 12 are .substaii%.

equipment. Each locomotive Application filed boats; 224; i906. saris-int. 340,292.

right of'each of these tending Men the track allow locomot they are too there is no danger o 19 is providediwith loweren s troll .wheel which throu h the rail-webs; force directl into the body of the conducthe low'er end of the standard (-22: By

trolley harps are allowed to;

arrangementthe compensate for the y d s ig y i ler e t swaying :of the locomotive from right to left v andalso fortrivial dev ations in the position, ,ofithe conductor 26. -.A;;p low. (shown at -is,. mounted upon a-stcmfifi and each standard 22. ,This-isjor the I tented March 19, 1907.

higher convenience are represented It .Wlll e under that the rails 19 are in rail.

om being so sensitive as to ves to alarm each other when far a art, and consequently the usual web portions ach locomotive is provided with" .stand-ards 2 2 23, carrying'at'their I ey harps 24, resilient in relation' thereto',fas hereinafter described, each ;\trolley-harp,.i being provided with atrolleyjrolls upon a.;longitudinalx conductor,\26.-l 'lliis conductor isinsulatedfrom the rail web by a longitudinal strip 27 pf insulatin 'material and is secured firmly y jaws 28, provided with oppos1tely-disposed teeth 29. mounted upon stenus 30, each encircled by of insulating material, passing The X teeth 27 are These. jaws are be understood by Figs; 9, 10,

',and thushold theconductor very securely. harp 24i ss'ecured the latter being connected .by a spiral spring a stem 34:, the latter being virtually firmly to a barrel 32,

this service-rails are shown at are prevented from These rails-may intoblocks in the conventional not; as desired.- The conductors are rendered of comparatively highresistance by means of special coilsfor 'the'purpose as indicatedin-F1gp3. :By this .nieansthe locomotives alarming; each other except when in comparativl aly close proximity. v In other words, resistance isthrown into the conductors exfor preventing these 80 collision. '"Each rail 18" i=1 0. c r i -by. purposeof the track I employ the 'construction shownin Fig. 3.- A box 38 is buried beneath the track and in this is placed a coil 39Jof wire,

the entire len th of which is covered with an insulating-jacet4l) and. virtually forms a continuation of the conductor 26, as will be understood from Fig.3; A core 42, of iron, 'may be employed, and, indeed, the winding 39 may beofiron wire, it this be deemed desirable. The purpose-of the devices shown in Fig. 3 is to prevent unnecessary alarm where locomotives are approaching each;

other but are a considerable distance apart.

The function of the device shown in Fig'. 3 is therefore comparatively simple. It virtually'increases the resistance of the main conductor extending alon ,the'track. The sector 15 is 'provi ed with a handle 43, whereby 'it may be turned. Mou'rited.

2 5 upon the sector 15 are t 0 contact members 44 and 45 of substantial y arcuate form, in-

sulated from the sector by meansof linings 46 47, of insulating material. Abar48 serves c as .-a support for the sector 'and itsaccomo panying parts, Mounted upon this bar are contact-pins 49,50, 51', '52, 53, 54, and 5 5.

'- A Wire 56 is connected with the contact-pin 49 and with wires 57 58, leading, respectively,

to bells 14 13'; Thecontactin is con- 5 nected by a wire 59 with the ell,14, and a wire 60'connects the contact-pin 54With the. bell 13. Connected with the wire 56 is a wire 61, leadin' downw'ardlythrough the stand-j ard 22 to t e trolley-harp 24, carried thereby. 4o Wires 63 and 64 connect the contact-pins 51 52, respectively, with the batteries 1 6- 17. The wire 65 is connected with the battery 16 and with the contact-pin 53, and joining the wire 65 is a wire 66, which leads downwardly- 5 through the standard 23 tothe trolley-harp 26", carried' by the-lower endthereof.

"The operation-of my system, is described below. It is' well known that in the operation of block signals heretofore used the en-" 5o gineers. are proverbially negligent in so faras they can rely'uponthe automatic operation f of the mechanism-that is to- 'say, an engineer maybe vigilant and careful in instances where he knows that the safety of. the train s 5 depends upon himself; but if the operation of the, si allng mechanism be entirely" automatic e yields toa weakness in human'nature and fails to exercise any further vigilance in that respect. In my system I seek 6o to..re'n'der the operation of the alarms partly automatic, but not altogether so, and to leave upon the engineer'a direct sense bf responsihility. Suppose n0w .that the trains,

11 12 are approachin each other andthat 05' the sectors 15 upon t e. respective locomo-- ordinary construction. IAt intervals along .maybe tives are set as indicated in Fig. 1. So long.

as the locomotives are separated by a considerable distance 'no alarm in each locomotive ispossible, owingto the use of theresistances shown in Fig.3.- Any current which cientt'o ring any bell, and therefore all'of the.

' bells are. silent.f- If now' the engines approach each other a'distance of, say, a kilometer, the current flows frompne of the locomotives to the other-"with suflicient intensity toring an alarm.

arouate contactmember '44; and contact-pin I assing throu h the connections ,fromone ocomotlveto-t e other is not with The circuit is as'follows: battery 16- of-locomotive 12, wire 64, contact-pin 52,

49 ofsaid locomotive 12, wire. 61, trolley-m harp.24, trolley-Wheel 25, oonductor'26, '(see Figs. land 8,) trolley-wheel 25, and-trolleys harp2-4 of locomotive11',wire 61, wire 57, I

b61114, wire'59, contact-pin .55, 'arcuate ,contact member '45, ,contact-pin 53, wire 66, down to trolley-bar 24 and trolley-Wheel 25, carried by standard 23, thence through conductor 26, back to locomotive 12, upward through wire 66 and downward through'wire' 65 of this locomotive back to battery 16.

This rings the sensitive bell; '14 of locomotivell.

Itwill be noted that while the current is T passing through the circuit above traced bell 13 of locomotive 12. is in parallel with the battery-circuit through the wires 58 60. This fact does not cause the bell 13 of locomotive 12 to ring, however, because, as above stated, the bells 13 are of high resistance, and are comparatively insensitive. The engineer. of"

locomotive 11 bein .warned by the ringing of his sensitive bel 14 'now knows that his locomotive and some other locomotive on the same track are mutually indanger and that tact memberf44,fand contact pin 49 of this locomotive, wires 56 61,-trolley-harp 24, trol- 'ley-wheel25of locomotive 11, through conductor 26 to locomotive '12,.trolley-wheel 2'5, trolley-harp 24,wire 61 ,wire 58, bell 13, (this hell being comparatively insensitive,) wire 60, contact-pin 54, arcuate contact member- 45, contact-pin 53,,wire 66, trolley-wheel 25, conductor 26, back to locomotive 11, trol- 17 of locomoley-wheel 25,and wire 66 of this locomotive, arcuate contact member 45, contact-pin 5,1,.

and wire 63, back to battery 17 oflocomotive 11. This circuit causes the insensitive bell 13 of locomotive 12-t0 ring and apprises the engineer of this locomotive that danger is imminent. The engineers being thusrnutually' warned stop their respective engines and otherwise take precautions to prevent a collisionthe battery 16 o'filocomoti the bell 13in said circuit, re

It will be noted that while the current is flowing through the circuit last above traced e 12 is connected 1n parallel with the co ecticrns through which the traced current" flows-that is to say, in locomotive 12 the battery 16 being connected by Wires 64 65 and contact-pins 52 53 with the arcuate contact members 44 45, which are included in the circuit just osite sides of orces the action of battery 17 of locomotive 11, and the conjoint effect ofthese two batteries is to rmg the bell 13 of locomotive 12 notwith:

standing the high resistance of this bell.

, the battery 16 of locomoabove explaine I tive 12 is alone unable to ring this bell.

shall each occupy the the case, the'engineer motives traveling in.

.When a locomotive arrives at its final destination andis turned around-for the purpose oftraveling in the opposite direction, the engineer by aid of the handle 43, as above explained, turns the switch to its proper relative position suitable for movement of the. locomotive inthe proper,direeti0n.- It is preferable, therefore, that in all locomotives 12 traveling inlon'e'd irection the sectors 15 position indicated at Fig. 2, thefse'ctors 15 in locothe opposite direction by hand. Such being of each locomotive 12 traveling in one directlon relies entirely upon the right of being alone adtuated the warning to be (given by the engineer of a locomotive 11, an the engineer of the last mentioned locomotive relies upon the auto matic action of the system for his warning.

Bythis arran 'ried by ement each locomotive engi user in tr-ave ing in one direction at least must rely upon his own actions rather than upon the automatic working of the system, and this keeps his mind-constantly trained, so that his vlgi'lance becomes'habitual and he does not relapse into the habit of carelessness, as above explained.

Having thus described claim as new and desire Patent- I The combination of wiring extending along a railway-track, a plurality of locomotives occupying said track, a sensitive electric alarm and an insensitive electric alarm. careach locomotive, a powerful battery mounted upon each locomotive for energizing the insensitive bell of tive, a weaker'battery u on each locomotive for energizing the sensitive bell of the other locomotive, and a single switch mounted upon each locomotive and provided with connections for establishing communication between the weakerbattery of one locomotive, and the sensitive bell of the other locomotive, and further provided with connections for establishing communication'from the powerful battery of one locomotive to the sensitive bell of the other locomotive.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

v EUGENIO OHOUTEAU, JR. Witnesses BRO. SAXHEY, BROTHER ELZEAR.

the other locomo-. 

